


A Spontaneous Trip

by stiny



Series: She's kind of his muse. [1]
Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 06:51:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/707807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stiny/pseuds/stiny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Claire happens by some of her father's files and decides to investigate them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Claire was doing laundry at her dad's apartment in DC when she came across a couple boxes of old Company files sitting on his desk. One of the boxes was labeled "Claire" and naturally her curiosity got the better of her. She had to investigate. There was a file of her own inside, but she passed that by, figuring it was mostly a bio about herself, and there was really no need to bother checking it out. 

Something bright red caught her eye, and she realized with a jolt that it was a picture of herself. A drawing, rather. No, it was a digital print of a painting, according to the label. Behind it was a file marked "Isaac Mendez" and some more copies of his paintings. She pulled out the file and read through it briefly, learning that he was a comic book artist in New York City who could paint the future. She flipped through some of the pictures, her eyes widening as she realized that most of them were of her. It was like looking through a photo album, only the pictures were dated before the events actually happened. She soon realized Isaac had foretold the events of her homecoming, leading Peter Petrelli to find her and save her, thus saving the world.

As she studied the paintings, Claire found she really liked Isaac's work, and poked through his file to see if there was a way she could contact him. She frowned, wondering why her dad had never told her about the artist, and then came across what was probably the reason why. Firstly, the man had been a heroin addict. Yeah, had been. He was dead. Murdered by Sylar. (As if she needed another reason to hate Sylar.)

Her heart dropped. She'd never get to meet him, never get to thank him for painting the future and making Peter come save her. As far as Claire was concerned, Isaac was every bit as responsible for saving her as Peter was. 

She was about to put the files away when her thumb ran over a second file marked with Isaac's name. She pulled it out, and the first thing she noticed was that the dates on this file were as recent as the previous month. There was a brief paragraph below an updated photo of the man that said he'd been brought back by the Company so they could tap into his ability should they ever feel the need. Claire wondered how they brought him back, learning as she continued reading that they'd used regen blood. Maybe they used her blood? Claire grinned at the thought. He'd saved her life, and maybe she'd saved his in return.

The file included an address, the same as the address in the old file, he still lived in the same apartment in New York City. She quickly wrote it down on a bit of scrap paper, stuffing it in her pocket and then put the files back exactly as she found them. Her decision to go find him was instant. 

It wasn't like she needed an excuse to go to New York anyway. Peter lived there, she could always attempt to visit her uncle when he wasn't too busy picking up double and triple shifts as a paramedic. Maybe she'd spend some time with him while she worked up the courage to pay a visit to Isaac Mendez.

As soon as she got back to her place (she'd rented an apartment not far from Noah's after school let out), Claire got on her laptop and booked a train for the city. It was scheduled to leave the next day. Then she called her father and spoke to him briefly, he sounded happy she was going to visit Peter, and reminded her to call Peter so he knew she was coming. He also urged her to be careful, and promised to text her a list of restaurants to try while she was there.

Peter was delighted that Claire wanted to come see him, and offered his couch so she didn't have to bother finding a hotel. He was rarely home anyway. After a quick search on Google Maps, Claire discovered that Peter's apartment wasn't far from Isaac's, and she was in good spirits as she packed for her trip. 

The train ride was uneventful, and when Claire arrived at Peter's place, she found the key under the mat, right where he assured her it would be, and there was a note on the kitchen table. He apologized for not being there to greet her, and promised her lunch the next day since he was about to go in for a double shift. Claire didn't mind waiting to see Peter, and she took advantage of the free time to explore the neighborhood. There were plenty of restaurants to try, and she found Isaac's loft with no problem.

She stood outside the building, fussing with the hem of her shirt. The only problem she had now was finding the nerve to go in and knock. She'd read in Isaac's file that he was a bit of a recluse, and rarely saw anyone except for business. Claire had no business with him, not really. She just wanted to thank him for his role in saving her at Homecoming. She'd have to think of an icebreaker or something. 

She thought hard about it as she walked back to Peter's apartment, and decided there was really no other way of doing it aside from just marching up to his door and knocking. There was no way around it. Now it was just a matter of building up the courage to do it. She didn't know why she was so nervous about this, aside from she wasn't sure how the artist would react to her randomly showing up at his doorstep. She got herself some takeout from a sushi place near Peter's apartment and brought it up, thinking some more about how to approach Isaac as she ate. 

She couldn't tell Peter, because then Peter would tell Noah, and Noah would know that Claire had gone snooping around in his files. Plus, she wasn't sure Noah would be too cool with the idea of Claire visiting a former heroin addict who, according to his file, killed his ex-girlfriend. Though, according to the updated file, that was an accident, and Isaac was never charged. Claire wasn't worried about her safety, it wasn't like Isaac could kill her. 

There was also a chance that maybe he'd be happy to meet her because he painted her so much. Claire hung on to that thought as she curled up on Peter's couch after she had her dinner and changed into her pajamas. Sleep found her easily, deep and full of hopeful dreams of lunches with Peter and successful meetings with Isaac.


	2. Baby Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire visits Isaac, though she hasn't quite built up the nerve to talk to him. So she decides to take a subtle approach.

Lunch with Peter was uneventful; he didn't have much to talk about because he worked all the time. Still, Claire always enjoyed getting to see her uncle, and he bought her a delicious meal at a burger place that just happened to be located near Isaac's loft. As she poked at her fries, she got an idea.

Sure, Peter raised an eyebrow when Claire ordered and paid for a second lunch, but said nothing when Claire insisted it was for her dinner, so she didn't have to go out later. After Peter headed off to work, Claire went straight to Isaac's. She thought bringing him lunch might break the ice.

It wasn't until she was standing outside his building that she realized how weird it seemed. Sighing, she set the paper bag on a bench and sat, pulling her notepad out of her bag. She jotted down a quick note:

_Isaac,  
I know this is a few years late, but thank you.  
-Claire  
"The Cheerleader"_

 

Reading it over, Claire found she was pleased with it. Simple, but genuine. She made her way up to his door, lunch and note in hand. She set the bag down in front of the door, laid the note on top, tapped on his door, and then quickly walked away to hide behind the corner. She pulled out her pocket mirror to spy on the door, and smiled as she saw it open.

The painter stuck his head out and looked around, Claire froze as she could have sworn she caught his eye in the mirror. If he had seen her, he made no show of it. Finally he looked down, his brows raising in confusion. He picked up the note, and as he read, the corners of his mouth turned up in the slightest hint of a smile. If Claire hadn't been staring at his face in the mirror, she'd have missed it. He opened the bag, and seeming satisfied with its contents, took one final glance around the hallway before going back into his loft and closing the door. 

Claire let out the breath that she'd only then realized she'd been holding. She headed back out to the street, unable to stop a grin from spreading across her face. It had worked. Isaac accepted her thanks and her lunch. She was exceptionally cheerful as she explored the city some more, finding she really liked Peter's neighborhood.

She walked around until it was nearly dark before turning her route to Peter's apartment. As much as she liked the area, she wasn't quite ready to explore it at night. She knew it Peter was unlikely to be home anytime soon, Claire decided to go to bed early. She didn't really want to tell him about Isaac, and that was really all she'd have to talk about anyway.

A couple of days went by without incident, Claire spent most of her time texting her father, wandering the neighborhood, and working up the courage to go to Isaac's place again. She spoke to Peter briefly, whenever he was around, but for the most part he was working and sleeping, so she didn't see much of him.

On an afternoon walk, she found a Chinese restaurant and decided she could go for some General Tso's chicken. It was delicious, and before she could stop herself she was buying a second meal to bring to Isaac. Why? She couldn't even begin to explain. But she felt like she had to. Like something was drawing her there, telling her to go back. 

So, when she arrived at the painter's loft and found a note taped to the door, she couldn't help but grin.

_Claire,_

_I'm not sure why you're thanking me, but you're welcome. Thank you for lunch. I'm not even sure if you'll come back here and see this, but I had no other way to contact you. If you do come back, you don't have to hide around the corner. I'd like to meet you. I've... painted you a lot, you see._

_-Isaac  
"The Painter"_

 

She hesitated, wanting very much to knock on the door and actually wait for Isaac to answer. But she still felt awkward about it. It was strange, normally Claire would never consider herself shy, yet she was really nervous about speaking to Isaac. She whipped out her notepad and wrote a reply:

_Isaac,_

_Next time, I promise I'll stick around.  
I guess I'm a little shy.  
I promise there will be a next time._

_-Claire  
"The Cheerleader"  
P.S. I'm thanking you for saving my life._

 

She set the bag on the floor, and the note on the bag like she had the last time, and knocked lightly on the door before walking away. She watched his reaction from around the corner once again, and was pleased to see him smile as he read it. It was a faint smile, but Claire noticed it and couldn't keep from smiling herself. Before he went back inside, he turned his gaze her way and gave a waggled his fingers in a lazy wave. 

Her heart was still pounding when she got back to Peter's apartment, and she was kicking herself for not writing her phone number down when she was writing the second note. But, lying on Peter's couch as she was about to fall asleep, Claire decided it was a bit more fun this way. It would be too easy if Isaac could just call her and talk to her. It was too special a moment for her to put a damper on it by having the conversation over the phone.

Next time she'd wait at the door. It was just a matter of working up the nerve to do so... and deciding what to bring him for lunch.


End file.
